Gadling

It's not always TSA officers lack of training, it's passengers lack of understanding of our policies and rules that cause for so must confusion. For instance, do you have any idea how many passenger heard you no longer have to take out your laptops and leave them in thier bags now? Did they bother to read about the checkpoint friendly bags or do you even know why your laptop needs to be run without obstruction? No, no one cares. No one listens. No one reads. It wastes time and it's frustrating for both of us.

Just like the liquids ban. I think it's a stupid rule to begin with (all liquids should be banned) but it doesn't matter if you agree with it or not, to follow the very simple 3.4oz rule is easy. And yes, as a TSA officer I'll admit we do let some things go we shouldn't, both on purpose and not. We are human and we will miss things. If you knew what we see on an X-ray screen you might understand.

Oh and next time a TSA officer looses thier patience with you, remember they probably just got cursed out, threatend, or challenged by another passenger for the 100th time that day (just for doing thier job and trying to protect the public, it happens daily, even when we're nice) and are tired of people who make a very simple process complicated because they can't read the 40 signs in the cue line that explain what to do. If you respect me, I'll respect you. And I'm always nice until you give me a problem, unless the person before you cursed me out over toothpaste, then I'll probably be in a bad mood.

When your bag gets selected for a bag check, stop leaning over the machine or table and telling me it's a cellphone or Ipod or GPS. Unless, it's laying at some weird angle, 99% of time it's none of the above. Everyone travels with that stuff, we know what they look like.

Sorry for the venting, but I'm so tired of everyone blaming TSA officers for the problems at the checkpoint. We don't make the rules, we just inforce them. If you knew what goes on behide the scenes, you wouldn't be so judgmental. Our rules might seem crazy to you, but most are there for a reason. You may think a bottle of contact solution or shampoo or water is harmless, but a simple 8oz bottle of "water" has caused fatal damage aboard an aircraft in the recent past.

It's frustrating how clueless people are of the dangerous and creative ways "those who seek to harm" are comming up with to hurt us. And most times it's not the terrorists or criminals we need to worry about. It's the man who thinks it's ok to smuggle a load of fireworks in his suitcase. The crazy guy who left his loaded gun in his briefcase. Or the woman carrying Lye for no explained reason. We see and hear about the damage common passengers have caused when not trying to.

Bottomline: Security is a two-way process and we need to work together to be successful.

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